MT. CARMEL, Ill. – The Vincennes University Lady Trailblazers closed out the 2023-24 on a sour note Saturday night after falling in a hard fought battle with the No. 3-ranked Wabash Valley College Lady Warriors.
The Lady Blazers fought hard and fell just short of a late comeback attempt, falling 104-95 to end the regular season with a 17-10 record overall.
VU was able to hang with the high ranked Warriors through the early par of the game before Wabash Valley was able to break away slightly with a 6-0 run late in the first quarter.
The Lady Blazers traded buckets with the Lady Warriors to end the first period of play trailing Wabash Valley 25-18.
Wabash Valley came out of the gates firing in the second quarter however, beginning the quarter on a 9-0 run to take a 34-18 lead.
VU would battle back before halftime, using a 6-0 scoring run of their own to cut the deficit down to 12 before Wabash Valley ended the first half of play by making one of two free throw attempts, heading into the break leading VU 49-36.
Wabash Valley looked to potentially be running away with the game early in the third quarter, opening up a 71-48 advantage of the Lady Blazers.
That was before Vincennes would close out the third quarter outscoring WVC 18-7, cutting the deficit to 78-64 heading into the final 10 minutes of play.
Wabash Valley would again grow their lead to 20 early in the fourth quarter before VU looked to make a late run at the Lady Warriors.
Freshmen Destinee Hooks (Indianapolis, Ind.) and Giavonnie Belton (Indianapolis, Ind.) led a late game charge for the Lady Blazers, with the duo combining to score 16 of VU's 31 fourth quarter points.
Vincennes would cut the WVC lead down to single digits but were unable to fully complete the comeback as VU fell to the Lady Warriors 104-95, ending the regular season for the Blazers.
VU was led offensively by another stellar outing by Destinee Hooks, who fell just short of setting a new career-high, finishing with 36 points, eight rebounds and a team-high five assists.
Giavonnie Belton came off the bench to connect on six threes on her way to 24 points and three assists.
Sophomore Elikya Baseyila (Paris, France) dominated the glass for the Lady Blazers, setting a new career-high with 21 rebounds to go along with 14 points to complete her 11th double-double of the season and 23rd of her VU career.
Freshman Makyla Tucker (Indianapolis, Ind.) came off the bench to add nine points, four rebounds and four assists, while sophomore Brie Miller (Bainbridge, Ind.) also came off the bench to finish with six points, six rebounds and three assists.
The Lady Trailblazers have earned the No. 2 seed in the 2024 Region 24/Midwest District Tournament and will begin postseason play inside the Physical Education Complex Sunday, March 10 at 1 p.m. eastern.
Vincennes will host the No. 7 seed in the Region standings, which has yet to be determined at this time.
The winner of Sunday's Region tournament game will advance to the Semifinals on Tuesday, March 12 hosted by Lake Land College in Mattoon, Ill.
The 2024 Region 24/Midwest District Championship game will be played Thursday, March 14 also at Lake Land College in Mattoon, Ill.
VINCENNES BOX SCORE
VINCENNES (95): Destinee Hooks 15-31 6-9 36, Karina Scott 1-6 0-0 3, Katrina Litte 0-4 1-2 1, Elikya Baseyila 5-6 4-8 14, Maycee Lange 0-2 0-0 0, Giavonnie Belton 8-17 2-2 24, Makyla Tucker 3-6 2-3 9, Najra Voloder 1-2 0-0 2, Brie Miller 2-4 2-2 6, Team 35-78 17-26 95.
VU (17-10, 12-2) – 18 18 28 31 – 95
Wabash Valley – 25 24 29 26 – 104
Three-point goals: VU 8 (Belton 6, Scott, Tucker). Rebounds: VU 52 (Baseyila 21). Assists: VU 24 (Hooks 5). Steals: VU 6 (Baseyila 2). Blocked Shots: VU 6 (Lange 3). Turnovers: VU 27. Personal Fouls: VU 28. Fouled out: Miller.